2016
2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), and the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences (CIPSH). __TOC__ Events January * January 3 – Following the fallout caused by the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, Iran ends its diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. * January 8 – Joaquín Guzmán, widely regarded as the world's most powerful drug trafficker, is recaptured following his escape from a maximum security prison in Mexico. * January 16 – The International Atomic Energy Agency announces that Iran has adequately dismantled its nuclear weapons program, allowing the United Nations to lift sanctions immediately. * January 28 – The World Health Organization announces an outbreak of the Zika virus. February * February 7 – North Korea launches a long-range rocket into space, violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around the world. * February 12 – Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their split in 1054. March * March 14 – The ESA and Roscosmos launch the joint ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter on a mission to Mars. * March 21 ** The International Criminal Court finds former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the first time the ICC convicted someone of sexual violence. ** The 44th president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, vists Cuba, marking the first time a sitting US president has visited the island nation since president Calvin Coolidge visited in 1928. * March 24 – Ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić is sentenced to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the Bosnian War. April * April 2 – Clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani military in Nagorno-Karabakh kill at least 193 people, which becomes the heaviest breach of the 1994 ceasefire. * April 3 – The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung publish a set of 11.5 million confidential documents from the Panamanian corporate Mossack Fonseca that provides detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders and directors including noted personalities and heads of state. May * May 19 – EgyptAir Flight 804 crashes with 66 people on board over the Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo. * May 30 – Former Chadian President Hissène Habré is sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity committed during his tenure from 1982 to 1990, the first time an African Union-backed court convicted a former ruler of a country within its jurisdiction. June * June 1 – The Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world's longest and deepest railway tunnel, is opened following two decades of construction work. * June 23 – The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union. * June 28 – ISIL is suspected to be responsible for attacking Atatürk Airport in Istanbul, killing 45 and injuring around 230. July * July 1 – Latvia becomes the 35th member of the OECD. * July 4 – NASA's Juno spacecraft enters orbit around Jupiter and begins a 20-month survey of the planet. * July 12 – The Philippines wins the arbitration case they filed at the Permanent Court of Arbitration regarding the legality of China's "Nine-Dash Line" claim over the South China Sea under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. * July 22 – The final videocassette recorder is manufactured by the Japanese company Funai. * July 26 – Solar Impulse 2 becomes the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the Earth. August * August 5–21 – The 2016 Summer Olympics are held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. * August 31 – The Brazilian Senate votes (61–20) to impeach the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff. The Vice President of Brazil, Michel Temer, who had assumed the presidential powers and duties as Acting President of Brazil during Rousseff's suspension, takes office for the remainder of her term. September * September 3 – The US and China, together responsible for 40% of the world's carbon emissions, both formally joined the Paris global climate agreement. * September 8 – NASA launches OSIRIS-REx, its first asteroid sample return mission. The probe will visit Bennu and is expected to return with samples in 2023. * September 9 – The government of North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemn the act, with the South calling it "maniacal recklessness". * September 28 ** International investigators conclude that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by a Buk missile that came from an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels. ** Global levels exceed 400 ppm at the time of year normally associated with minimum levels. A 400 ppm level is believed to be higher than anything experienced in human history. * September 30 – Two paintings by Vincent Van Gogh with a combined value of $100 million, Seascape at Scheveningen and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen, are recovered after having been stolen on December 7, 2002 from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. October * October 13 – The Maldives announces its decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth of Nations. * October 15 – 150 nations meet at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) summit in Rwanda and agree to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) as an amendment to the Montreal Protocol. November * November 24 – The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army sign a revised peace deal, bringing an end to the Colombian conflict. December * December 19 – Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, is assassinated in Ankara. * December 22 – A study finds the VSV-EBOV vaccine against the Ebola virus between 70-100% effective, and thus making it the first proven vaccine against the disease. * December 23 – The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2334 condemning "Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967". Births * February 5 – Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, heir apparent to the throne of Bhutan * March 2 – Prince Oscar, Duke of Skåne * April 19 – Prince Alexander, Duke of Södermanland Deaths January ]] ]] ]] ]] * January 1 – Vilmos Zsigmond, Hungarian-American cinematographer (b. 1930) * January 2 ** Michel Delpech, French singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1946) ** Sheikh Nimr, Saudi Arabian Shia religious leader (b. 1959) * January 3 ** Paul Bley, Canadian pianist (b. 1932) ** Peter Naur, Danish computer scientist (b. 1928) * January 4 – Michel Galabru, French actor (b. 1922) * January 5 – Pierre Boulez, French composer, conductor and writer (b. 1925) * January 6 – Silvana Pampanini, Italian actress (b. 1925) * January 7 ** Princess Ashraf of Iran (b. 1919) ** André Courrèges, French fashion designer (b. 1923) * January 8 – Maria Teresa de Filippis, Italian racing driver (b. 1926) * January 10 ** David Bowie, English singer, songwriter and actor (b. 1947) ** Yusuf Zuayyin, 51st and 53rd Prime Minister of Syria (b. 1931) * January 14 ** René Angélil, Canadian singer and manager (b. 1942) ** Alan Rickman, English actor and director (b. 1946) * January 18 ** Glenn Frey, American musician (b. 1948) ** Michel Tournier, French writer (b. 1924) * January 19 – Ettore Scola, Italian screenwriter and film director (b. 1931) * January 23 – Jimmy Bain, Scottish musician (b. 1947) * January 24 – Marvin Minsky, American computer scientist (b. 1927) * January 26 ** Black, British singer-songwriter (b. 1962) ** Abe Vigoda, American actor (b. 1921) * January 28 ** Paul Kantner, American singer and musician (b. 1941) ** Signe Toly Anderson, American singer (b. 1941) * January 29 ** Jean-Marie Doré, 11th Prime Minister of Guinea (b. 1938) ** Jacques Rivette, French film director and critic (b. 1928) * January 30 ** Frank Finlay, British actor (b. 1926) ** Francisco Flores Pérez, President of El Salvador (b. 1959) * January 31 – Terry Wogan, Irish-British broadcaster (b. 1938) February ]] ]] ]] * February 1 – Óscar Humberto Mejía Victores, 27th President of Guatemala (b. 1930) * February 3 – Joe Alaskey, American voice actor (b. 1952) * February 4 ** Edgar Mitchell, American astronaut (b. 1930) ** Maurice White, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941) * February 9 – Sushil Koirala, 37th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1939) * February 13 ** Trifon Ivanov, Bulgarian footballer (b. 1965) ** Slobodan Santrač, Serbian football player and manager (b. 1946) ** Antonin Scalia, American Supreme Court Justice (b. 1936) * February 15 – George Gaynes, Finnish-born American actor (b. 1917) * February 16 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egyptian politician and diplomat, Secretary-General of the UN (b. 1922) * February 17 ** Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Egyptian journalist (b. 1923) ** Andrzej Żuławski, Polish film director and writer (b. 1940) * February 19 ** Umberto Eco, Italian writer and philosopher (b. 1932) ** Harper Lee, American writer (b. 1926) * February 22 – Douglas Slocombe, British cinematographer (b. 1913) * February 23 – Donald E. Williams, American astronaut (b. 1942) * February 24 – Peter Kenilorea, 1st Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands (b. 1943) * February 25 – Tony Burton, American actor (b. 1937) * February 28 – George Kennedy, American actor (b. 1925) * February 29 ** Hannes Löhr, German footballer (b. 1942) ** José Parra Martínez, Spanish footballer (b. 1925) March ]] ]] ]] ]] * March 5 ** Hassan Al-Turabi, Sudanese spiritual leader (b. 1932) ** Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Austrian conductor (b. 1929) ** Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer (b. 1941) * March 6 – Nancy Reagan, American actress, First Lady of the United States (b. 1921) * March 8 ** George Martin, English record producer, composer, arranger and engineer (b. 1926) ** Claus Ogerman, German conductor and composer (b. 1930) * March 9 – Naná Vasconcelos, Brazilian jazz percussionist and vocalist (b. 1944) * March 10 ** Anita Brookner, British novelist (b. 1928) ** Keith Emerson, British musician (b. 1944) ** Roberto Perfumo, Argentine footballer and sport commentator (b. 1942) * March 11 ** Iolanda Balaș, Romanian athlete (b. 1936) ** Dragan Nikolić, Serbian actor (b. 1943) * March 12 – Lloyd Shapley, American Nobel mathematician (b. 1923) * March 13 – Hilary Putnam, American philosopher, mathematician and computer scientist (b. 1926) * March 14 – Peter Maxwell Davies, English composer and conductor (b. 1934) * March 17 ** Meir Dagan, Israeli general and former Director of Mossad (b. 1945) ** Larry Drake, American actor (b. 1950) * March 18 ** Lothar Späth, German politician (b. 1937) ** Guido Westerwelle, German politician (b. 1961) * March 20 – Anker Jørgensen, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1922) * March 21 – Andrew Grove, Hungarian-American electronic executive (b. 1936) * March 22 – Rob Ford, Canadian politician (b. 1969) * March 23 – Ken Howard, American actor (b. 1944) * March 24 ** Roger Cicero, German jazz and pop musician (b. 1970) ** Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager (b. 1947) ** Garry Shandling, American actor and comedian (b. 1949) * March 26 – Raúl Cárdenas, Mexican footballer and coach (b. 1928) * March 29 – Patty Duke, American actress (b. 1946) * March 31 ** Georges Cottier, Swiss cardinal (b. 1922) ** Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician (b. 1927) ** Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-British architect (b. 1950) ** Imre Kertész, Hungarian Nobel author (b. 1929) April ]] ]] ]] * April 2 ** Amber Rayne, American pornographic actress (b. 1984) ** Gato Barbieri, Argentine jazz saxophonist (b. 1932) * April 3 ** Cesare Maldini, Italian football player and manager (b. 1932) ** Kōji Wada, Japanese rock singer (b. 1974) * April 4 – Chus Lampreave, Spanish actress (b. 1930) * April 6 – Merle Haggard, American country singer (b. 1937) * April 8 – Erich Rudorffer, German fighter ace (b. 1917) * April 12 ** Balls Mahoney, American professional wrestler (b. 1972) ** Arnold Wesker, British playwright (b. 1932) * April 16 – Louis Pilot, Luxembourgian football player and manager (b. 1940) * April 17 – Doris Roberts, American actress (b. 1925) * April 19 ** Patricio Aylwin, 32nd President of Chile (b. 1918) ** Ronit Elkabetz, Israeli actress and film director (b. 1964) ** Walter Kohn, Austrian-born American Nobel physicist (b. 1923) * April 20 ** Chyna, American professional wrestler (b. 1969) ** Guy Hamilton, British film director (b. 1922) * April 21 – Prince, American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (b. 1958) * April 23 – Banharn Silpa-archa, 21st Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1932) * April 24 ** Billy Paul, American singer (b. 1934) ** Klaus Siebert, German Olympic biathlete (b. 1955) ** Papa Wemba, Congolese singer (b. 1949) * April 25 – Martin Gray, Polish writer (b. 1922) * April 26 – Harry Wu, Chinese human rights activist (b. 1937) * April 27 – Viktor Gavrikov, Lithuanian-Swiss chess Grandmaster (b. 1957) * April 30 – Harry Kroto, English Nobel chemist (b. 1939) May ]] ]] ]] ]] * May 1 – Solomon W. Golomb, American mathematician (b. 1932) * May 2 – Afeni Shakur, American music businesswoman (b. 1947) * May 4 ** Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, 2nd President of Burundi (b. 1946) ** Bob Bennett, American politician (b. 1933) * May 5 ** Siné, French political cartoonist (b. 1928) ** Isao Tomita, Japanese composer (b. 1932) * May 6 – Margot Honecker, East German politician (b. 1927) * May 8 – William Schallert, American actor (b. 1922) * May 10 – Kang Young-hoon, 21st Prime Minister of South Korea (b. 1922) * May 16 – Giovanni Coppa, Italian cardinal (b. 1925) * May 17 ** Guy Clark, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941) ** Yūko Mizutani, Japanese voice actress (b. 1964) * May 19 ** Alexandre Astruc, French film critic and director (b. 1923) ** Marco Pannella, Italian politician (b. 1930) ** Alan Young, English-Canadian actor (b. 1919) * May 21 ** Sándor Tarics, Hungarian Olympic water polo player (b. 1913) ** Nick Menza, German-born American drummer (Megadeth) (b. 1964) * May 22 – Bata Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (b. 1933) * May 26 ** Loris Francesco Capovilla, Italian cardinal (b. 1915) ** Arturo Pomar, Spanish chess grandmaster (b. 1931) * May 28 ** Giorgio Albertazzi, Italian actor (b. 1923) ** David Cañada, Spanish cyclist (b. 1975) * May 31 ** Mohamed Abdelaziz, 3rd Secretary-General of the Polisario Front (b. 1947) ** Corry Brokken, Dutch singer (b. 1932) ** Antonio Imbert Barrera, Dominican politician (b. 1920) June ]] ]] ]] ]] * June 2 – Tom Kibble, British physicist (b. 1932) * June 3 ** Luis Salom, Spanish motorcycle racer (b. 1991) ** Muhammad Ali, American Olympic and professional boxer (b. 1942) * June 4 – Carmen Pereira, Acting President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1937) * June 5 – Jerome Bruner, American psychologist (b. 1915) * June 6 ** Peter Shaffer, British playwright and screenwriter (b. 1926) ** Viktor Korchnoi, Russian-born Swiss chess grandmaster (b. 1931) * June 7 – Stephen Keshi, Nigerian footballer and manager (b. 1962) * June 8 ** Pierre Aubert, Swiss politician (b. 1927) ** Qahhor Mahkamov, 1st President of Tajikistan (b. 1932) * June 10 ** Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1928) ** Christina Grimmie, American singer (b. 1994) * June 11 – Rudi Altig, German road racing cyclist (b. 1937) * June 12 – George Voinovich, American politician (b. 1936) * June 18 – Vittorio Merloni, Italian entrepreneur (b. 1933) * June 19 ** Victor Stănculescu, Romanian general and politician (b. 1928) ** Anton Yelchin, Russian-born American actor (b. 1989) * June 20 – Edgard Pisani, French politician (b. 1918) * June 23 ** Michael Herr, American writer, journalist and screenwriter (b. 1940) ** Ralph Stanley, American bluegrass musician (b. 1927) * June 25 – Maurice G. Dantec, French writer (b. 1959) * June 27 ** Bud Spencer, Italian actor (b. 1929) ** Alvin Toffler, American writer and futurist (b. 1928) * June 28 ** Scotty Moore, American guitarist (b. 1931) ** Pat Summitt, American basketball coach (b. 1952) * June 30 – Martin Lundström, Swedish Olympic cross country skier (b. 1918) July ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] * July 1 – Yves Bonnefoy, French poet (b. 1923) * July 2 ** Michael Cimino, American screenwriter and film director (b. 1939) ** Rudolf E. Kálmán, Hungarian-born American electrical engineer (b. 1930) ** Patrick Manning, 4th and 6th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1946) ** Michel Rocard, Prime Minister of France (b. 1930) ** Elie Wiesel, Romanian-born American Nobel writer and political activist (b. 1928) * July 4 – Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian film director (b. 1940) * July 6 – Turgay Şeren, Turkish footballer (b. 1932) * July 8 ** Abdul Sattar Edhi, Pakistani philanthropist, social activist, ascetic and humanitarian (b. 1928) ** William H. McNeill, Canadian-American historian and author (b. 1917) * July 9 – Silvano Piovanelli, Italian cardinal (b. 1924) * July 12 – Goran Hadžić, Serbian politician and alleged war criminal (b. 1958) * July 13 ** Héctor Babenco, Argentine-Brazilian film director (b. 1946) ** Bernardo Provenzano, Italian criminal (b. 1933) ** Zygmunt Zimowski, Polish bishop (b. 1949) * July 14 – Péter Esterházy, Hungarian writer (b. 1950) * July 16 – Nate Thurmond, American basketball player (b. 1941) * July 19 ** Garry Marshall, American film director, television producer and actor (b. 1934) ** Anthony D. Smith, British historical sociologist (b. 1939) * July 22 – Ursula Franklin, German-born Canadian scientist (b. 1921) * July 23 – Thorbjörn Fälldin, Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1926) * July 24 – Marni Nixon, American vocalist (b. 1930) * July 25 ** Halil İnalcık, Turkish historian (b. 1916) ** Dwight Jones, American basketball player (b. 1952) ** Tim LaHaye, American evangelist and author (b. 1926) * July 27 ** Einojuhani Rautavaara, Finnish composer (b. 1928) ** Piet de Jong, Dutch politician and naval officer, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1915) ** Jerry Doyle, American talk show host and actor (b. 1956) * July 28 ** Mahasweta Devi, Indian social activist and writer (b. 1926) ** Vladica Kovačević, Serbian footballer (b. 1940) ** Émile Derlin Zinsou, 4th President of Dahomey (b. 1918) * July 30 – Gloria DeHaven, American actress (b. 1925) * July 31 ** Seymour Papert, South African-born American mathematician and computer scientist (b. 1928) ** Fazil Iskander, Russian writer (b. 1929) ** Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1955) August ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] * August 1 – Queen Anne of Romania, French-born consort of former King Michael of Romania (b. 1923) * August 2 ** Terence Bayler, New Zealand actor (b. 1930) ** David Huddleston, American actor (b. 1930) ** Franciszek Macharski, Polish cardinal (b. 1927) ** Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American Nobel chemist (b. 1946) * August 3 – Chris Amon, New Zealand motor racing driver (b. 1943) * August 5 – Alphons Egli, Swiss politician (b. 1924) * August 9 – Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster (b. 1951) * August 13 ** Kenny Baker, British actor (b. 1934) ** Françoise Mallet-Joris, Belgian writer (b. 1930) * August 14 ** Hermann Kant, German writer (b. 1926) ** Fyvush Finkel, American actor (b. 1922) * August 15 ** Dalian Atkinson, English footballer (b. 1968) ** Stefan Henze, German canoeist and coach (b. 1981) ** Bobby Hutcherson, American jazz musician (b. 1941) * August 16 ** Andrew Florent, Australian tennis player (b. 1970) ** João Havelange, Brazilian athlete and football executive (b. 1916) * August 17 – Arthur Hiller, Canadian film director (b. 1923) * August 18 – Ernst Nolte, German historian (b. 1923) * August 19 ** Lou Pearlman, American music manager and record producer (b. 1954) ** Nina Ponomaryova, Russian Olympic discus thrower (b. 1929) ** Mohammad Ali Samatar, 5th Prime Minister of Somalia (b. 1931) * August 22 ** S. R. Nathan, 6th President of Singapore (b. 1924) ** Toots Thielemans, Belgian jazz musician (b. 1922) * August 23 ** Steven Hill, American film and television actor (b. 1922) ** Berit Mørdre Lammedal, Norwegian cross-country skier (b. 1940) ** Reinhard Selten, German Nobel economist (b. 1930) * August 24 ** Michel Butor, French writer (b. 1926) ** Walter Scheel, President of West Germany (b. 1919) ** Roger Y. Tsien, American Nobel biologist (b. 1952) * August 25 ** James Cronin, American Nobel physicist (b. 1931) ** Sonia Rykiel, French fashion designer (b. 1930) ** Rudy Van Gelder, American recording engineer (b. 1924) * August 26 – Harald Grønningen, Norwegian cross country skier (b. 1934) * August 28 ** Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Israeli politician and former Deputy Prime Minister (b. 1936) ** Mr. Fuji, American professional wrestler and wrestling manager (b. 1934) ** Juan Gabriel, Mexican singer-songwriter (b. 1950) * August 29 – Gene Wilder, American actor (b. 1933) * August 30 ** Věra Čáslavská, Czech gymnast (b. 1942) ** Marc Riboud, French photographer (b. 1923) September ]] ]] ]] ]] * September 1 – Jon Polito, American actor (b. 1950) * September 2 ** Islam Karimov, 1st President of Uzbekistan (b. 1938) ** Daniel Willems, Belgian cyclist (b. 1956) * September 3 – Jean-Christophe Yoccoz, French mathematician (b. 1957) * September 5 ** Hugh O'Brian, American actor (b. 1925) ** Phyllis Schlafly, American writer and political activist (b. 1924) * September 7 ** Norbert Schemansky, American weightlifter (b. 1924) ** Joseph Keller, American mathematician (b. 1923) * September 8 ** Prince Buster, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1938) ** Dragiša Pešić, 5th Prime Minister of Serbia and Montenegro (b. 1954) * September 11 – Alexis Arquette, American actress (b. 1969) * September 12 – Sándor Csoóri, Hungarian poet (b. 1930) * September 13 – Jonathan Riley-Smith, English medieval historian (b. 1938) * September 16 ** Edward Albee, American playwright (b. 1928) ** Gabriele Amorth, Italian Catholic priest and exorcist (b. 1925) ** Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, 10th President and 49th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1920) ** António Mascarenhas Monteiro, 2nd President of Cape Verde (b. 1944) * September 17 ** Charmian Carr, American actress (b. 1942) ** Sigge Parling, Swedish footballer (b. 1930) * September 20 – Curtis Hanson, American film director and screenwriter (b. 1945) * September 23 – Marcel Artelesa, French footballer (b. 1938) * September 24 ** Bill Mollison, Australian researcher, author and biologist (b. 1928) ** Bill Nunn, American actor (b. 1952) * September 25 ** David Padilla, 64th President of Bolivia (b. 1927) ** Arnold Palmer, American golfer (b. 1929) * September 26 – Herschell Gordon Lewis, American film director and screenwriter (b. 1929) * September 27 – Jamshid Amouzegar, 71st Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1923) * September 28 – Shimon Peres, 9th President and 8th Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1923) * September 29 – Miriam Defensor Santiago, Filipino politician (b. 1945) * September 30 – Trịnh Thị Ngọ, Vietnamese radio personality (b. 1931) October ]] ]] ]] * October 1 – David Herd, Scottish footballer (b. 1934) * October 2 – Neville Marriner, British conductor (b. 1924) * October 4 – Brigitte Hamann, German-Austrian historian and author (b. 1940) * October 5 – Michal Kováč, 1st President of Slovakia (b. 1930) * October 8 – Stylianos Pattakos, Greek military officer (b. 1912) * October 9 ** Andrzej Wajda, Polish film director (b. 1926) ** Mamadou Dembelé, 3rd Prime Minister of Mali (b. 1934) * October 11 – Teatao Teannaki, 2nd President of Kiribati (b. 1936) * October 13 ** Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), King of Thailand (b. 1927) ** Dario Fo, Italian actor, Nobel playwright and comedian (b. 1926) * October 14 – Klim Churyumov, Soviet-Ukrainian astronomer (b. 1937) * October 16 ** Kigeli V, King of Rwanda (b. 1936) ** Viktor Zubkov, Russian basketball player (b. 1937) * October 20 ** Michael Massee, American actor (b. 1952) ** Junko Tabei, Japanese mountaineer (b. 1939) * October 23 ** Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar (b. 1932) ** Pete Burns, British singer (b. 1959) * October 24 ** Jorge Batlle, 38th President of Uruguay (b. 1927) ** Benjamin Creme, Scottish artist, author and esotericist (b. 1922) ** Reinhard Häfner, German footballer (b. 1952) ** Bobby Vee, American pop singer (b. 1943) * October 25 – Carlos Alberto Torres, Brazilian footballer (b. 1944) * October 27 – Takahito, Prince Mikasa (b. 1915) * October 28 – Nicholas Brathwaite, 3rd Prime Minister of Grenada (b. 1925) * October 29 ** Roland Dyens, French classical guitarist and composer (b. 1955) ** Pen Sovan, 32nd Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1936) * October 31 – Silvio Gazzaniga, Italian sculptor (b. 1921) November ]] ]] ]] ]] * November 2 – Oleg Popov, Russian clown (b. 1930) * November 5 – Marek Svatoš, Slovak ice hockey player (b. 1982) * November 6 – Zoltán Kocsis, Hungarian pianist, conductor and composer (b. 1952) * November 7 ** Leonard Cohen, Canadian singer, songwriter and poet (b. 1934) ** Janet Reno, American lawyer (b. 1938) * November 11 ** Ilse Aichinger, Austrian writer (b. 1921) ** Željko Čajkovski, Croatian football player (b. 1925) ** Robert Vaughn, American actor (b. 1932) * November 12 – Lupita Tovar, Mexican-American actress (b. 1910) * November 13 ** Enzo Maiorca, Italian free diver (b. 1931) ** Leon Russell, American musician (b. 1942) * November 14 – Gardnar Mulloy, American tennis player (b. 1913) * November 15 ** Mose Allison, American jazz musician (b. 1927) ** Sixto Durán Ballén, 37th President of Ecuador (b. 1921) * November 16 ** Jay Wright Forrester, American computer engineer (b. 1918) ** Melvin Laird, American politician and writer (b. 1922) ** Daniel Prodan, Romanian football player (b. 1972) * November 17 – Whitney Smith, American vexillologist (b. 1940) * November 18 – Denton Cooley, American heart surgeon (b. 1920) * November 20 ** Gabriel Badilla, Costa Rican footballer (b. 1984) ** Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, 5th President of Greece (b. 1926) ** William Trevor, Irish writer (b. 1928) * November 23 – Andrew Sachs, German-born British actor (b. 1930) * November 24 ** Florence Henderson, American actress (b. 1934) ** Pauline Oliveros, American composer (b. 1932) * November 25 ** Fidel Castro, 16th Prime Minister and 17th President of Cuba (b. 1926) ** Ron Glass, American actor (b. 1945) ** David Hamilton, British photographer (b. 1933) * November 27 – Ioannis Grivas, 176th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1923) * November 28 ** Cléber Santana, Brazilian footballer (b. 1981) ** Mark Taimanov, Russian chess Grandmaster and concert pianist (b. 1926) * November 29 – Luis Alberto Monge, 39th President of Costa Rica (b. 1925) December ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] * December 2 – Sammy Lee, American Olympic diver (b. 1920) * December 4 – Gotlib, French comic artist (b. 1934) * December 5 – Geydar Dzhemal, Russian Islamic philosopher (b. 1947) * December 5 – Jayalalithaa Jayaram, Indian politician (b. 1948) * December 6 – Peter Vaughan, British actor (b. 1923) * December 7 ** Paul Elvstrøm, Danish Olympic yachtsman (b. 1928) ** Greg Lake, British musician (b. 1947) * December 8 ** John Glenn, American aviator, astronaut and politician (b. 1921) ** Joseph Mascolo, American actor (b. 1929) * December 10 – Esma Redžepova, Macedonian-Romani singer (b. 1943) * December 12 – Javier Echevarría Rodríguez, Spanish bishop (b. 1932) * December 13 ** Thomas Schelling, American Nobel economist (b. 1921) ** Alan Thicke, Canadian actor and songwriter (b. 1947) * December 14 ** Paulo Evaristo Arns, Brazilian cardinal (b. 1921) ** Bernard Fox, Welsh actor (b. 1927) * December 16 – Faina Melnik, Ukrainian-born Russian Olympic discus thrower (b. 1945) * December 17 – Henry Heimlich, American physician (b. 1920) * December 18 – Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and socialite (b. 1917) * December 20 – Michèle Morgan, French actress (b. 1920) * December 22 – Miruts Yifter, Ethiopian long distance runner (b. 1944) * December 23 ** Heinrich Schiff, Austrian cellist (b. 1951) ** Piers Sellers, British-American astronaut and meteorologist (b. 1955) ** Vesna Vulović, Serbian air disaster survivor (b. 1950) * December 24 ** Richard Adams, British author (b. 1920) ** Rick Parfitt, British musician (b. 1948) ** Liz Smith, British actress (b. 1921) * December 25 ** George Michael, British singer (b. 1963) ** Vera Rubin, American astronomer (b. 1928) * December 26 – Ashot Anastasian, Armenian chess grandmaster (b. 1964) * December 27 ** Carrie Fisher, American actress and writer (b. 1956) ** Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, 12th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1933) * December 28 ** Gregorio Conrado Álvarez, President of Uruguay (b. 1925) ** Michel Déon, French writer (b. 1919) ** Debbie Reynolds, American actress, dancer, and singer (b. 1932) * December 29 ** Ferdinand Kübler, Swiss racing cyclist (b. 1919) ** Néstor Gonçalves, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1936) * December 31 – Henning Christophersen, Danish politician (b. 1939) Nobel Prizes * Chemistry – Ben Feringa, Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Fraser Stoddart * Economics – Oliver Hart, Bengt R. Holmström * Literature – Bob Dylan * Peace – Juan Manuel Santos * Physics – John M. Kosterlitz, Duncan Haldane, David J. Thouless * Physiology or Medicine – Yoshinori Ohsumi See also * List of international years References Music Albums #"Awaken, My Love!" Childish Gambino Category:2016 Category:Leap years in the Gregorian calendar Category:Recent years